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Investing in tomorrow's innovators

La Trobe staff are renowned for their passion for teaching and their students; however, a small group of Electronic Engineering academics have taken their commitment and support to the next level.

Eddie Custovic, Darrell Elton, Professor John Devlin, Song Wang and Jim Whittington, have made contributions towards the establishment of the Innovation and Enterprise in Engineering Award. It will be awarded for the first time in 2014 to the most innovative fourth year Electronic Engineering student.

The Electronic Engineering staff have raised over $12,000 thus far, with ambitions to increase the fund to $20,000 by the end of 2014 and a view to creating undergraduate scholarships in their discipline.

“Through leading by example we hope to inspire other staff members to join us in supporting our best and brightest students in Electronic Engineering. The funding will be used to develop several scholarships and awards which will reward the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and global thinkers,” says Eddie Custovic.

Electronic Engineering staff share a passion for their course, and particularly the innovative and entrepreneurial values they encourage in their students. Last year a group of students supervised by Eddie Custovic won first place and $10,000 in the prestigious Telstra Machine to Machine Challenge for their innovative design. Not surprisingly, over four decades, La Trobe Electronic Engineering graduates have gone on to achieve amazing success across the globe, from executive leadership in Silicon Valley to designing computer graphics in George Lucas’ production company.

“We are passionate about engineering, its real-world applications and the wider industry. Our courses are based on practical applications of engineering and allow students to develop solutions to real world problems. Our team is keen to attract more high achieving students and innovative thinkers to all engineering courses at La Trobe. We have ambitions for La Trobe Engineering to be to be known for excellence and innovation, and for quality staff who genuinely believe in their students,” says Eddie.